Review: Call Me By Your Name (2018)

Wow! I'm sitting here right now thinking of how to do this review. I just wanna write it today because I feel like there's no perfect way to start the love month than to write a review of one of the best romantic film I have ever seen for quite a very long time.

While the entire world is anticipating that blue blood super moon, I've decided to spend my night watching this film and I swear it's so worth it.

I guess I'll do the list thing again for movie review ala-Chico Garcia so here it goes...

1. Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet are two gorgeous human beings with incredible chemistry. The film is oozing with desire. And I love how that desire builds up as you watch it.

2. Timothee Chalamet's raw portrayal of Elio gave me goosebumps. He's the Carlo Aquino of their generation in Hollywood. Remember how Carlo Aquino was able to act with just his eyes? Same for Timothee. Just look at his face and you'll see a myriad of emotions. All bursting. All popping. Raw. Weird. Unprecedented.

3. The cinematography is beyond awesome. Set in a small town in Northen Italy, this film is just gorgeous! Every shot is done with perfection. That shot with a flowing water? Perfect. Those swim trunks on the sink? Perfect. Biking on the small streets in Italy. Oh gorgeous.

4. I love how laid back, simple, easy going the movie is. It's just a love story. One summer love story. But beautifully told. There's no real tension, no fighting, no issues. There are issues but it's raw and real and just relatable.

5. Again, just like what I felt when I read Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe, I relate so much with the parents. That conversation scene of Elio and his father just broke my heart in a good way. As a parent, I know that this is the kind of film that every parent should watch. Oh my gosh I'm tearing up as I write this. It's just every parent should learn a thing or two from Elio's parents. That while we can't spare our children from the pain, it is very important that we guide them. That we accept them. That we love them. That we let them feel the pain and embrace it.

6. I wanna be like Elio's mum and dad. I wanna know my child. I want to have that look of "knowing" everytime I'd see my daughter smile or smirk or frown. I want my child to feel confident that she could call me anytime to ask me to pick her up on the train station after being left by her love. I want to drive for my child in silence. But then in the silence, we both know that I am here and that I know her pain. It's simple scenes like these that makes this film beautiful.

7. I love that the film is sensual. But not sexual. I love that the sex scenes are not there just because it's nice to shoot two naked bodies in the heat of passion. No. The sex scenes are there because they should be there so you could actually feel how two person could become one. The sex scenes are not explicit. They are there because they are vital. It is sensual without showing so much. It is sensual without making you feel uncomfortable.

8. The director is brilliant. You can see it on every aspect of the film. And I spent last night watching interviews with the director and you could really see that his vision of the film was exactly how it turned out. The feelings that he wants to convey was felt. It was magnificent.

9. This is not just a gay film. It is a love story. It is a romantic film. It is in every aspect a romance.

10. Probably the best movie I have seen in a very long time. I was able to connect to the film. I was engaged. I loved how the film builds up and up and up and then ended while you're on the climax. It is a ride.

If you are a parent, watch it because you will learn. If you are part of the LGBTQ, watch it because it is our story. If you are a teenager, watch it and not just focus on the romance or sex but really learn because one day someday you will fall in love and you will get hurt and I want you to know that it's okay.

I'm still on Call Me By Your Name high. And am now reading the book because, well bookworms! I'm just so glad I watched it. And you should too.